Hood - Book 1 of the King Raven Trilogy

In the past couple of years I have shown a pattern of liking reimaginations or reinventions of classic characters. Gregory Maguire's novels, while not literary perfection, are fun to read. My favorite so far is Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister. I also liked Stephen R. Lawhead's Pendragon Cycle, which comprises five novels about Merlin and his life and adventures. I find them especially interesting because they tie in Atlantean myth. They aren't perfect, and get a bit preachy at times, but overall I enjoyed them.

I received Hood as a gift recently, and as the title implies, it's about Robin Hood. However, rather than plopping him down as usual in Sherwood Forest against the dastardly Sheriff of Nottingham, he is heir to the throne of Elfael, a Welsh kingdom in the Middle Ages. Lawhead alters his characters names to reflect the conventions of the time. The hero is "Rhi Bran the Hud," which roughly means "King Raven the Enchanter." His name is mangled by the Norman invaders to "Robin Hood." Bran's right hand man is "Iwan," which is anglicized as "John." The nickname "Little" is given him by Brother Aethelfrith, whose name Iwan cannot pronounce, so he chooses to call him "Tuck," in honor of his love of food.

Here again, Lawhead ties in real history. The main plotline of the book is about Baron William de Braose (also mentioned in the Wikipedia article on Elfael) taking over Elfael and the opposition he meets from Baron Bernard de Neufmarché. Bran, of course, has to stop them both to reclaim his throne.

The stories of Robin Hood have always been more exciting to me than those of King Arthur, so it's no surprise that I liked this retelling better than the Pendragon Cycle. Even so, I think it's a lot more accessible in some ways than Lawhead's Arthurian books. Arthurian myth necessarily has heavy themes of heavenly preordination, and while these are present in Hood, they are not nearly as pervasive. I'm looking forward to getting Scarlet and Tuck, the second and third installments.